So you've picked up a Squad server – nice choice. Offworld Industries' 50v50 combined-arms shooter has been running since 2015 Early Access, hit 1.0 back in September 2020, and the community has settled into a steady rhythm of licensed milsim servers, clan scrim boxes, and public rotation nights. If you're setting one up for the first time, the first hour can feel a bit overwhelming – there's a server browser listing to worry about, a handful of .cfg files with overlapping responsibilities, and an admin role system that nobody really explains up front. I'll walk you through all of it, from first boot to your first mod.
Ordering and first boot
Picking a slot count is the first decision. Squad's slot tiers on our pricing page run from a 10-slot scrim-sized box up to a 100-slot flagship. The physics, vehicle simulation, and layered map streaming all pile on once you stack players, helicopters, and logistics trucks, so size for what you actually run on a busy night rather than your best-case dream scenario. You can upgrade later – start modest.
Once the order completes, the server shows up in your LOW.MS Control Panel. The initial install runs SteamCMD against Squad's dedicated server app (403240), pulls the game files, and boots the service. For a fresh install that's usually a five-to-fifteen-minute window depending on mirror speed – give it that long before you start worrying. When the status light in Current Activity & Stats goes green, you're ready.
Your connection details live on the server overview: a public IP plus three ports. By default LOW.MS auto-allocates from the 7787-7887 range, with the game on one UDP port, the Steam query port directly above it, and an RCON TCP port above that. If you need the classic 7787/7788/7789 triple for a licensed listing, the Dedicated IP option on checkout pins you to the defaults.
Getting the server visible
Squad doesn't have a direct-IP-connect dialog in the main menu. Players find you through the in-game Custom Servers browser, which reads from the community server list. Your server name (set in Server.cfg, covered below) is what they'll search for – make it distinctive, especially if your clan tag is already five letters deep.
There are two tiers in the community. Unlicensed servers are the default – they appear in the custom browser alongside everything else, and that's where the overwhelming majority of public and clan servers live. Licensed servers sit on a separately-managed list and have to meet Offworld's tighter rules and moderation standards; the application process runs through the Squad Server Licensing programme and isn't something you need on day one. Get your server stable and populated first, then apply if you want the licensed tag.
One small gotcha: Squad's dedicated server traditionally accepted a Steam Game Server Login Token (GSLT) as a launch argument to tie the listing to your Steam account. The exact current requirement shifts between Offworld patches, so check the in-game browser once you're live – if your server shows up without a token, you're fine. If it doesn't, you can generate one at https://steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers and drop it into your launch parameters via Commandline Manager in the TCAdmin sidebar.
Editing Server.cfg basics
Server.cfg is the main config and the one you'll touch most often. Open it from Configuration Files in the TCAdmin sidebar – that's the pane where all the .cfg files live together, which beats FTP-ing them out one by one.
The three fields worth setting before anything else:
ServerName– what shows up in the browser. Put your clan or community tag first.ServerPassword– leave blank for public, or set a shared password for scrims and training nights.ServerMessage/Motd– the welcome message that players see on connect. Good spot for your Discord link and rules summary.
Save the file and bounce the server from the control panel. The name change won't apply until the next restart, which is a common first-hour "why isn't my name updating" moment.
Setting yourself as admin
Admin powers live in Admins.cfg, not Server.cfg. The format is role-based rather than flat: you define a named Group with a permissions list at the top, then add Admin entries that map SteamID64s to groups. A minimal example:
Group=SuperAdmin:ChangeMap,CanSeeAdminChat,Balance,Pause,Cheat,Kick,Ban,Config,Cameraman,ForceTeamChange,Debug
Admin=76561198xxxxxxxxx:SuperAdmin
Grab your SteamID64 from steamid.io or steamdb.info/calculator – the 17-digit number starting with 7656. The full list of permission flags is in the Squad wiki, but in practice most servers run a SuperAdmin group (everything), a Moderator group (kick/ban/changemap, no config), and a Whitelist group (just reserved-slot access).
Changing the first map
Squad calls its maps Layers – each underlying map (Narva, Yehorivka, Fallujah, and the rest) has multiple Layers for different game modes (AAS, RAAS, Invasion, Skirmish) and faction matchups. Layers.cfg is a straight list: one Layer name per line, and the server cycles through them in order. LayerRotation.cfg is the more advanced file for conditional rotations – skip that for now.
A quick first rotation might be three or four small-to-medium Layers like Yehorivka_AAS_v1, Narva_AAS_v2, Fallujah_Invasion_v1. The sibling server configuration article goes deep on Layer naming conventions, faction locking, and LayerRotation syntax.
Installing your first mod
Squad mods are managed through the in-game mod system – players subscribe via the mod browser and the server auto-pulls whitelisted mods on restart. On the server side you have two paths:
The clean path is Mod Manager in the TCAdmin sidebar (where available for your server): paste the mod's ID, click install, restart. TCAdmin handles the download, extract, and placement under SquadGame/Plugins/Mods/ for you.
The manual path, if you prefer config-driven: open Server.cfg via Configuration Files, find the mods section, and add the mod IDs as a comma-separated list. Restart the server from the panel. Either way, your mod folder is visible under File Manager if you want to confirm files landed.
A couple of things worth knowing up front: modded Layers are loaded separately from vanilla ones, so if your mod adds new maps you'll need to list them in Layers.cfg by name once the mod is installed. And Bans.cfg and Whitelist.cfg follow the same SteamID64 format as Admins.cfg, so the skills transfer.
Joining your server
In Squad's main menu, click Servers, then the Custom Servers tab. Filter by the server name you set in Server.cfg – your own should pop up within a few seconds. Right-click and favourite it so you don't have to search again.
If your server doesn't appear after two or three minutes, that's usually one of three things: the query port isn't open (check Service Settings to confirm the allocated ports), the server hasn't finished its first startup (watch Log Viewer for the "game engine initialised" line), or the listing just hasn't propagated yet. Give it five minutes before escalating to the troubleshooting guide.
Where next
Once your server is up and named, there are two obvious next steps. The server configuration guide digs into Layer rotation strategy, RCON setup, whitelist management, and the config files this article only skimmed. The troubleshooting guide is the one to bookmark for the inevitable "server won't start after an update" evening. Both sit alongside Steam Update, Cloud Backup, and Cloud Restore in the TCAdmin sidebar for the day-to-day admin tasks.
Good luck out there. See you in-game.